NEW DELHI (REUTERS, AFP) - All four man convicted of the rape and murder of a 23-year old trainee physiotherapist on a New Delhi bus should face the death penalty, public prosecutor Dayan Krishna told a court on Wednesday.

"The sentence which is appropriate is nothing short of death," prosecutor Krishnan told the court, arguing that the case had shocked "the collective conscience".

The court on Tuesday found the four man - bus cleaner Akshay Kumar Singh, gym instructor Vinay Sharma, fruit-seller Pawan Gupta, and unemployed Mukesh Singh - guilty of rape and"cold-blooded" murder of the woman in December, a case that led to a nationwide public uproar about safety of women.

Judge Yogesh Khanna started hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence in a sentencing hearing on Wednesday. He may deliver the sentence later in the day or defer the decision.